Global adviser needed for Islamic finance, says IDB

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB), a Jeddah-based multilateral institution, has called for the creation of a global sharia advisory board that can offer greater uniformity for the Islamic finance industry, its president said on Thursday.

A centralised format to the supervision of sharia-compliant banking products is gaining favour across the globe, as regulators seek to standardise industry practices and improve consumer perceptions.

“IDB and IFSB (Islamic Financial Services Board) should study ways for creating globally acceptable references for the industry for the benefit of all,” IDB president Ahmad Mohamed Ali said at a conference in Kuala Lumpur.

2 thoughts on “Global adviser needed for Islamic finance, says IDB”

Its about time, to globalise the so called STAR Shari’ah board,
There are no reliable references as to the process for the selection of scholars. The way they are selected is not in accordance with their qualifications and experience, but is determined simply by factors such as who attends conferences and seminars, who is popular (or has a louder voice), whether a candidate can convince influential people of his understanding of Islamic jurisprudence, and who sits more frequently on more Shari’a boards. One Shari’a board member will be asked to recommend two or three other members, and will generally recommend people with whom he sits on another organization’s board, or maybe a college friend. This friend will return the favor by recommending him to another board, and so on. Thanks to this system, one individual, Sheikh Nizam Yacobi, is seen to sit on 77 different boards, another on 72, another on 64, and so on.
I am in the process of writing a book “Towards Standardisation of Islamic Banking and Finance” expect publication November 2013, I will be grateful for any help, All contributions will be highly appreciated and will be referenced in the book. My Contact: alykhorshid@mac.com